Would you put up with bad weather to live in a great city?

I’ve been saying that I’m going to move south for years now. Often, when I tell someone this, they respond with, “Oh, but you’ll miss the seasons.”

I won’t.

In a place with winter, things like this happen:

My car after Snowmageddon.

I’m no stranger to harsh winters—I grew up experiencing this kind of weather. But as far as I can tell, D.C.’s climate is defined by horrible winters, nice springs, miserable summers and nice falls. Two nice seasons are cancelled out by two awful ones. St. Louis was much the same way.

That’s still better than Milwaukee, where snow was on the ground between October and May. But if I were to move south, I’d gladly take sweltering summers in exchange for three other pleasant seasons.

In a city like Washington, D.C., where people rely heavily on public transit, it’s especially difficult to deal with unpleasant weather. You experience it walking to the Metro, standing on above-ground platforms and waiting for buses. Winter seemed especially long to me this year because of the wretched half-mile walk to my Metro stop.

If climate plays a major role in my decision, it’s not looking good for D.C. But maybe the cherry blossoms will change my mind.